


Wake Up, Stay Still

by AwayLaughing



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff without Plot, Frankly I don't think the T is warented, Laughter, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but it's vaguely suggestive so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 09:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17423039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwayLaughing/pseuds/AwayLaughing
Summary: Neji and Shikamaru, and a sleepy winter morning.





	Wake Up, Stay Still

The nice thing about cats was it meant when you came home to an empty house it lacked that dead feeling. Their fuzzy little selves added just enough life to any situation. The downside was when they tripped you up as you stepped through the door.

 

“Ugh,” Shikamaru said. Trying and failing to ignore the way Hime was waving her tail in his face. “Hi girls,” he said. “I know mom didn’t let you starve.” Feet on his back didn’t agree or disagree. “Ikki?” he hazarded and got a _mrrp_ in reply. “Great,” he said and levered himself upward. “I’m going to the human bed,” he told the twining animals. “None of you are invited. Cuddle each other.”

 

Naturally, Fuyu took that as an invitation to run ahead of him. He sighed, stooping to scoop her up and deposit her back in the hall – and briefly worried that he wasn’t going to be able to right himself. He managed it, and he managed to peel himself out of his clothes. His lack of chakra pulled at his bones, meaning that once he hit mattress he realized there was no way he was going to rearrange himself. Since all of him was on the bed, he figured that was good enough.

 

His last thought before going unconscious was hoping someone stopped by to feed the cats despite him being. Otherwise they’d learn to open the door and eat him.

 

* * *

 

A nudge to his back brought Shikamaru unwillingly to the world of the living – and for a moment he wondered how the fuck the cats got in after all. Shikamaru made a noise – half way between a whine and a grunt – that was supposed to articulate that. His tongue wasn’t cooperating but luckily Neji – not a cat which explained the door opening – was smart and answered all the same.

 

“Shh,” he said, sounding just this side of dead, “I’m not hurt. Go back to sleep.”

 

Well. If ever anything was going to send him back to La-La-Land _that_ wasn’t it. With effort, Shikamaru opened his eyes fully and flipped over. Or tried to. Neji’s hand on his hip wasn’t heavy or forceful, but any resistance at all was enough to keep Shikamaru in place.

 

“’s wrong?” he asked, addressing his pillow more than anything.

 

Neji responded by sliding fully into bed and pressing his face into Shikamaru’s shoulder, one arm pulling Shikamaru flush. Usually he laid on his back, and Shikamaru invariably ended up half sprawled on top of him in a bid to either reclaim the blankets or exploit body heat.

 

While this was more traditional, he was not entirely sure he liked the change in tradition. It gave him enough energy to actually turned around, leaving them nose to nose in the near-perfect dark. Shadows made it impossible to tell if Neji had any significant bruising – but he wasn’t in any casts and the were pressed close enough he’d feel any bulky bandages.

 

“I’m not hurt,” Neji repeated softly, easing onto his back. Shikamaru took advantage, hooking a leg over one of Neji’s and banding an arm across his muscled midsection. His head came to rest just near his heart. Neji’s hand immediately found his hair, fingers massaging Shikamaru’s skull, then pulling gently through his hair, repeating ad infintium.

 

“Bad mission?” Shikamaru hazarded, eyes already slipping down. He couldn’t remember what it was exactly beyond an escort of some sorts. Maybe the danger had actually manifested, as the exception that proved the rule?

 

“Not really,” Neji said, “yours?”

 

“Chakra-eating, but we’re okay,” Shikamaru said. “You sure?”

 

“Nothing to worry about, like I said,” Neji said evasively. “Go back to sleep.”

 

“I worry about your happiness,” Shikamaru chided – or tried. It was more of a slur, and thus probably not very convincing. The hand in his hair stilled for a brief moment.

 

Under him Neji relaxed a fraction, and Shikamaru followed suit. It was the death knell for his tenuous hold on his consciousness, because he was fairly certain he fell back asleep within seconds. He barely remembered to tack on, “okaeri,” and it was pure faith in the ritual that told him Neji responded.

 

“Taidama.”

 

* * *

 

Shikamaru woke not to the familiar feeling of Neji wriggling out from under him, but the rather unfamiliar, if welcome feeling of a completely relaxed, totally asleep boyfriend. Only a life time devotion to pretending to sleep so people left him alone kept him from tensing in surprise and thus ruining everything – because Neji was a light sleeper the way the ocean was wet. For a moment he studied Neji, but there wasn’t much to it.

 

Last night’s meagre revelations weren’t any different in the anemic morning light, so after a few moments of staring Shikamaru opted to be himself, and went back to sleep.

 

A good call, because when he woke up some time later he found himself very warm. The causes were multiple. Neji was still under him, chakra lazily unfurled and enveloping Shikamaru. While outside it was no doubt cold as hell, the sun through the glass had had time to warm, and now it slanted across Shikamaru’s back and Neji’s front, narrowly avoiding the latter’s eyes. Rather shockingly he still had blankets – but maybe that was because he’d pre-empted the theft by pining Neji down for the night and confusingly, there were at least three cats now in bed with him, two curled up at his back and one at his feet.

 

Prying an eye open confirmed that Hime was curled up on Neji’s other side – though only because her tail was draped over Neji’s chest.

 

“What time is it?” he asked, sounding more awake than even he expected.

 

“Just past eight,” Neji said.

 

“And the cats are sleeping,” he said.

 

“I fed them.”

 

“When?” Shikamaru asked.

 

“Around 6,” Neji said. Shikamaru stared. “What?”

 

“You were up and came back to bed?”

 

“And you didn’t notice,” Neji said. “How long have you been home?”

 

“What day is it?” Shikamaru asked. He didn’t feel gross enough to have slept more than a day, but stranger things had happened and chakra drain was vicious when you couldn’t take a chakra pill.

 

“The 20th,” Neji said.

 

“Ugh,” Shikamaru said, “I’ve been home 12 hours.” He really should be more tired - “am I turning into a morning person?” he asked.

 

“Are you planning to get up any time soon?” Neji asked.

 

“No, I planned on clinging to you like a limpet and lounging for as long as you tolerated. Or until my bladder gave up, whichever came first,” he said.

 

“Then fret not, you remain not a morning person.”

 

“Oh good,” Shikamaru said, levering himself up just enough they could have a face-to-face conversation, as opposed to face-to-jaw or face-to-armpit. Neji was accommodating, lifting his arm and then slotting it back into place once Shikamaru was resettled. The cats at his back protested, but only until they realized it meant there were clear laps now availble. Soon he had both Ikki and Fuyu curled up together, like a cat yin-yang. “I’m not sure I could cope with the loss of identity that would bring,” he said only three quarters joking.

 

Neji hummed, clearly not entirely devoted to this morning repartee, instead more focused on the hand he ran through Kata’s short, dense fur – she having oozed upward from their feet when Shikamaru moved. Which was rude given Shikamaru was only this fun this early in the morning once a decade. Okay well. Not true he and Neji had had some very fun mornings.

 

He wasn’t generally this witty this early, at any rate.

 

“Neji?” He asked, sensing something deeper. But despite his general wakefulness he couldn't guess at it - some parts of his thinking were still lagging then.

 

Neji responded by putting a halt to the attentions he was giving Kata and turning to Shikamaru, hand gently settling on Shikamaru’s jaw, coaxing him into tilting his head up.

 

“Why,” Neji asked, settling their foreheads together, “is your chakra so low?” It took a moment for Shikamaru to realize Neji was offering a transfusion. He accepted it gratefully, the familiar warmth of Neji’s chakra sinking into hungry coils.

 

“There was a mountain, and some threat of hypothermia,” Shikamaru said, keeping it vague so as to not incite an international incident. “I got to punch some people, so that was fun.” As far their friend group went, Neji was always a good person for a transfusion. His chakra pool was deep and his meditation habit meant it always went very smoothly.

 

Tragically, however, Shikamaru and Neji did not have complimentary chakra natures. Their oft unused nature types were close to polar opposite, and their usual fighting styles actually were. Shikamaru was yin-oriented, Neji was yang-oriented. His chakra always seemed slightly spooked whenever he got a transfusion from Neji – similar to the few times he’d gotten a top up from Kiba, Chōji or Naruto.

 

But also it made him very giddy, once it settled.

 

“Wow,” Shikamaru said once Neji pulled away. “I’m going to be climbing the walls.”

 

Neji chuckled, tilting Shikamaru’s head again, this time coming in for a kiss. He tasted like mint and smelled like shaving cream – which put Shikamaru at a serious disadvantage. “Maybe I can offer something more stimulating?”

 

“After the bathroom,” Shikamaru said.

 

“Need help?”

 

Shikamaru laughed. “No, I promise not to cut my neck shaving.”

 

“Very comforting,” Neji said but let him up. The cats were mildly outraged – but not as much as when Shikamaru scooped the other two up.

 

“You,” he addressed the four squirming mammals, “are not invited to recreational bedroom time.”

 

They had pouncing tendencies.

 

Depositing them on the floor had them running off at least, presumably to go be offended in a sunbeam that didn’t shift around so much. The bathroom didn’t show any signs of Neji’s morning ablations, other than an extra razor sitting out to dry. Shikamaru dithered for a moment about what needed tending to first- but decided his mouth tasted worse than any other part him felt and opted to start there.

 

Once he finished Neji’s chakra had settled. Just like he guessed, he felt a faint buzzing beneath his skin and so he wasted no time getting back to the bedroom. He expected to find Neji folded into a meditative position. Instead he found Neji reclined back, clearly basking in the sunbeam.

 

“I thought I kicked the cats out,” Shikamaru joked, sliding into bed and slotting himself against Neji’s side.

 

“I figured I could pick up the slack,” Neji said, barely letting Shikamaru settle before he tugged him up and over so they were chest to chest, legs entangled. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Climb-y,” Shikamaru deadpanned, despite not feeling very...deadpan. Then, because he was supposed to be thoughtful and shit he said, “are you sure you don’t want talk?”

 

“I am positive,” Neji said, nudging his legs further apart. “I am also positive I want to stay on my back.”

 

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, “uh hu,” he said, unconvinced.

 

“Oh ye of little faith,” Neji said.

 

“So I’m on the hook for work,” Shikamaru groused, even as he sat up to strip of his shirt.

 

“Climb-y,” Neji reminded him, and crossed his arms behind his head.

 

For a long moment Shikamaru just stared at him, shirt only half off fighting the feeling bubbling in his chest. It was useless, however and soon he was down, head bowed over Neji’s chest, laughing harder than he could remember. After a second, Neji joined, which just spurned him on harder. He was on the edge of tappering off when Neji caught enough breath to say, _fine_ and flipped them over.

 

Which of course just lead to another round from Shikamaru while Neji chuckled. Eventually he got himself under control.

 

“Knew you couldn’t stay down for long,” he said, a giggle lurking on the edge of his voice. Neji just continued to grin, hair curtaining them on one side, as if Neji had pushed it away at some point during Shikamaru’s fit. “What?”

 

“I know I don’t say it often,” Neji said, “but I love you.”

 

Shikamaru paused for a moment. Thought of Neji getting up and coming back to bed – just to be with him. Looked at Neji, openly smiling, eyes soft and hands tender. “You say it plenty,” he said, finally freeing his arms from his shirt so he could reach up and pull Neji into a kiss. “And I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is just self indulgent cuddling written to tide me over while I torment them in a longer work


End file.
